This courtroom sketch shows James Holmes being escorted by a deputy as he arrives at a preliminary hearing in district court in Centennial, Colo., on Jan. 7. / Bill Robles, AP

by Gary Strauss, USA TODAY

by Gary Strauss, USA TODAY

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - Self-portraits taken with a cellphone less than seven hours before the mass shooting at an Aurora theater show suspect James Holmes eerily grinning, sticking his tongue out and wearing black contact lenses while he holds a handgun, assault rifle and homemade bomb, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The cellphone photos were introduced on the third and final day of what was to be a five-day preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to try Holmes on more than 160 counts of murder and attempted murder.

Holmes is charged with killing 12 people and wounding nearly 60 during the July 20 massacre in suburban Denver.

Prosecutors wrapped up their case, saying there was ample evidence to warrant a trial. Arapahoe County prosecutor Karen Pearson said the photos, along with video placing Holmes at the theater, records of weapons and ammunition purchases in the weeks of the shooting and other evidence "go to identity, deliberation and extreme indifference'' under the charges. "He knew what he was doing,'' Pearson said.

"He picked a perfect venue for his crime, where people were packed in and where there would be great difficulty for escape,'' she said. "Had his (assault rifle) not jammed, he would have shot a lot more people. He had ample ammunition to do so."

Holmes' defense team has said that the 25-year-old University of Colorado doctoral program dropout suffers from mental illness and suggested they will use an insanity defense.

Lead defense attorney Dan King had planned to call witnesses who would have testified to Holmes' mental state. But King told Judge William Sylvester on Wednesday that given the evidence, it was pointless to call witnesses.

"This is neither the proper venue nor time to put on a show or a truncated defense," King said.

Sylvester continued the hearing until Friday morning. Court officials said Sylvester could rule on the evidence before Friday, and then set an arraignment date for him.

The last of the chilling self portraits - showing Holmes holding an improvised explosive device - was taken at 6:31 p.m. July 19. Aurora police received the first of more than 40 911 calls from the theater around 12:38 a.m on July 20. Investigators later found 76 bullet casings and shotgun shells: 65 rounds from an AR-15 assault rifle, six from a semi-automatic shotgun and five from a Glock .40-caliber pistol.

Prosecutors say another series of cellphone photos taken earlier by Holmes show that he had checked out the theater on at least three separate occasions in the weeks before the shootings. Two of interior photos were taken on June 29. Aurora police Detective Matthew Fyles said Holmes took an additional photo of the rear of the building at 11:30 p.m. July 5 and another photo of the complex's outer doors at 12:28 a.m. July 11.

Police said earlier in the hearing that Holmes purchased a ticket online July 8 for the July 20 midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises. On Tuesday, prosecutors played theater surveillance video that showed Holmes entering the theater shortly past midnight. Police say he later exited an emergency door, propped it open and went to his car in the rear parking lot, where he dressed in tactical gear and armed himself. He then returned to the building and opened fire on the crowded theater.

Survivors of the shooting who attended the hearing said they were startled by Holmes' demeanor in the cellphone photos, which alternately showed him smiling or mugging for the camera.

"It shows he had planned this all along, that he knew what he was doing,'' said Yousef Gharbi, who was shot in the right temple. He recalls wiping away blood before passing out. He later awoke in the hospital.

The 17-year-old high school senior came to court hoping to learn Holmes' motive. He didn't come away from the hearings with any answers, but says he hopes Holmes doesn't escape prison or a death sentence by pleading insanity.

"Those pictures he took of himself? He thought it was a joke,'' said Gharbi, who says he still suffers from anxiety attacks. "He knew what he was doing."

Tom Teves, whose son Alex was among those killed, said Holmes' odd behavior following the shootings is a ruse.

"He's playing everyone,'' said Teves, who attended the hearing with his wife, Caren.

Caren Teves said the evidence presented in the hearing was disturbing, but it gave the victims' families more of a sense of the case than they'd previously had.

The hearing started Monday with dramatic testimony from police officers who arrived on the scene of the shooting and found Holmes standing by his car at the rear of the theater "completely compliant," wearing soft body armor, a gas mask and a helmet.

Police officer Justin Grizzle described in emotional detail driving six shooting victims to the hospital on four separate trips.

"There was so much blood," he recalled. "I could hear it sloshing around in the back of my car."

On Tuesday, an FBI technician testified about how Holmes rigged his apartment with homemade bombs that would destroy his building when accidentally tripped from the outside, creating a diversion from the shootings at the movie theater.

Throughout the hearing, survivors and families of those who died in the shooting watched proceedings either in the courtroom or an adjacent hearing room.

"She doesn't want to see him," said Sam Soudari, the father of Farrah Soudari, 23, who lost a kidney and spleen from an exploding grenade. "Part of me wants to rip his head off - but you see him sitting there and (he) just seems lifeless," Sam Soudari said.